A look at Microsoft’s device-agnostic game streaming model; sources say Microsoft prototyped a cloud-focused Xbox handheld, but its cloud gaming work has slowed asus筆電收購

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Cloud Gaming are enough for many. Cloud gaming on a phone isn’t a replacement for a true handheld, though. Phones are pretty terrible for cloud gaming, especially when someone’s trying to call you, there’s no Wi-Fi on a plane, or you get a notification in the middle of your game. Microsoft made its own Surface Duo better at handling cloud gaming, but there’s still room for improvement.A dedicated cloud gaming handheld that can also run mobile games — like the Logitech G Cloud — is a good alternative that at least removes the notification and battery hassles. Microsoft worked closely with Logitech on its handheld, but there’s still no official Xbox cloud gaming handheld in sight.Sources familiar with Microsoft’s Xbox plans tell me the company was prototyping a cloud-focused Xbox handheld previously. Microsoft has developed a lightweight version of the Xbox user interface that can run on handheld devices, dedicated cloud consoles, and TVs. While we’ve seen this interface appear on some Samsung TVs, the dedicated Xbox cloud console that Microsoft first announced in 2021 was canceled as Microsoft pivoted toward the TV streaming app instead.The prototype Xbox cloud gaming console. Image: Phil Spencer (X / Twitter)The Xbox maker had been very close to launching its dedicated Xbox cloud console last year before scrapping its plans just weeks before an announcement. The device, codenamed Project Keystone, was then spotted on Xbox chief Phil Spencer’s shelf in October, confirming that the company had manufactured some units.Work on Xbox Cloud Gaming has slowed over the past year inside Microsoft, sources tell me. Microsoft previously promised that Xbox Cloud Gaming would support your existing game library by the end of 2022, but that never happened. Microsoft also scrapped plans to launch a dedicated version of Xbox Cloud Gaming that players could subscribe to instead of paying for the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription. That’s likely all because regulators around the world have been focused on Microsoft’s cloud gaming efforts as part of a review of its proposed Activision Blizzard deal. The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority even blocked the deal citing cloud concerns, and the European Commission shared similar cloud concerns but approved the deal thanks to cloud-related remedies.It was also a key part of the FTC v. Microsoft hearing. In the weeks leading up to that hearing, a source told me that Microsoft had started temporarily reassigning people working on Xbox Cloud Gaming to other parts of Xbox. During the FTC hearing, Sarah Bond, head of Xbox creator experience, revealed that Microsoft decided against a separate version of Xbox Cloud Gaming after the company got more data on the success and popularity of the service. “We’ve gotten more clear on the costs related to it, and we have signed partnerships with others who provide those services,” said Bond in June.The ROG Ally is the closest thing yet to an Xbox handheld.Windows handhelds need Microsoft’s helpAll of this scrutiny about the future of Xbox Cloud Gaming makes it unlikely that we’ll see a cloud-powered Xbox handheld or console anytime soon. But Microsoft is also well placed to create its own Steam Deck rival that’s powered by Windows and provides access to PC Game Pass, Steam, and other key launchers. After all, cloud devices don’t beat playing PC games on the go where there’s no internet connection required.asus筆電收購asus’ ROG Ally is emerging as the go-to device for PC Game Pass on portables. Spencer is a fan of the ROG Ally, describing the handheld as his “Xbox on the go” in a recent interview with Eurogamer. He also downplayed the idea of Microsoft making its own Xbox handheld in that same interview. “I don’t need people to buy a piece of hardware from us specifically to go play,” said Spencer. “[The ROG Ally is] an amazing Xbox experience, even though we didn’t build the device. And I think that’s totally fine.”If Microsoft wants to stick to OEMs and partners leading the way on Windows handhelds, then it will still need to greatly improve the user experience. Most of the reviews of Steam Deck rivals have one gripe in common: Windows. Microsoft’s desktop-focused operating system doesn’t scale down well to smaller devices, especially when a touchscreen or analog sticks are involved. Both asus筆電收購asus and Lenovo have tried to create their own layers on top of Windows, but with everyone from OneXPlayer to Aya and GPD trying to solve the Windows problem, it really needs Microsoft to step in.“We are focused on making the Xbox and GP experience great on devices like the Ally … More to do,” admitted Spencer in a tweet in July. That more to do may include bringing features like Quick Resume to Windows gamers. Microsoft’s prototype Windows handheld mode. Image: @_h0x0d_ (X / Twitter)A leaked hackathon project for a concept Windows gaming handheld mode offered some hope earlier this year, but there’s still no sign from Microsoft that the company is willing to provide its own launcher and special Windows 11 UI for handhelds that’s designed for touchscreens and controllers.I truly hope Microsoft is seriously working on improving the experience of Windows-based handhelds. Otherwise, we’re in for years of hacked-together projects from OEMs that never really work that well. Valve put a lot of effort into the underlying SteamOS that powers the Steam Deck so that you don’t have to navigate around a desktop Linux environment to get to your favorite games. Windows deserves something similar.With analyst estimates of the Steam Deck hitting 3 million sales this year, Linux overtaking macOS on Steam, and rumors of a Nintendo Switch 2 on the horizon, PC gaming handhelds look set to grow beyond their initial niche of the past decade. Microsoft is fully aware that these handhelds are growing in popularity and that it has to do something. “I don’t think those are going to be niche devices – those are going to reach scale,” said Spencer in the Eurogamer intervi

（圖／美聯社）

全球筆電市場買氣需求低迷態勢，有望迎來新轉機！調研機構 TechInsights 發佈最新數據報告指出，今年第三季全球筆電出貨量總計達5,120萬台，相比去年同期下滑7％。雖然消費端的買氣力道仍未見好轉，但值得一提的是，這已是繼去年第一季以來，難得終於有首個季度出現衰退幅度放緩至個位數的跡象，顯示筆電銷量的復甦力道正在朝緩慢回升的路上。

綜觀2023年7月至9月期間，全球排名前五大筆電品牌出貨量的市占表現，只有HP惠普一家筆電品牌相比去年同期表現，是唯一逆勢成長7％，至於其它四大品牌的出貨量，都是呈現下滑趨勢，其中又以蘋果MacBook筆電系列的下降幅度最大，較去年同期衰退30％。

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TechInsights 分析指出，隨著蘋果於十月底推出新一代M3系列晶片的MacBook Pro筆電系列，出貨量或有望於第四季度止跌回升，尚仍有待後續觀察。

（圖翻攝Techinsights官網）

就各家筆電出貨量的市占率來看，Lenovo聯想仍位居全球第一大，以1,220萬台，取得24％的市占份額。HP惠普則以1,030萬台、20％市佔份額排名第二。第三、四與五名，分別依序為：Dell戴爾820萬台（16％）、蘋果570萬台（11％）與asus筆電收購asus華碩380萬台（8％）。

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